Method for reducing the percentage of water of peateries



Nov. 3, 1925.'

A. TEN BOSCH ETHD FOR REDUCING THE PERCENTAGE OF WATER OF PEATERES 'Filed April 28. 1924 ,43rd lm 727;?, Ewing fforn f/V Patented Nov. 3, 1925.

UNITEDA STATES ABRAHAM TEN BOSCH, OF THE HAGE, NETHERLANDS.

METHOD FOR REDUCING THE PERCENTAGE OF WATERVOF PIIATEIRIES.

Application filed April 28, 1924.

To all whom t may conce/rn:

Be it known that I, ABRAHAM TEN BosoH, a subject of the Queen of the Netherlands, and residing at 9 Bachmanstraat, The Hague, the Netherlands, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in and Relating to a Method for Reducing the Percentage of Water of Peateries, for which I have filed an application in the Netherlands 10 on April 16,1923,N0. 24,182, and in Germany on April 27, 1923, No. B. 109,442, and in Great Britain, May l, 1923, No. 11,770, and of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to an improved method of reducing the percentage of water in peat deposits, its object being to overcome the difficulties of working peat deposits on a practical scale due to the great expenditure of labor, losses in the product itself, and to the costs of installing and operating the necessary apparatus.

According to the invention, the treatment required to reduce the water-content of the peat takes place in situ-that is, in the peat bog or bank itself; and suchtreatment may be carried out so far that the further draining of the peat, after the latter has been dug, can be effected in a manner to enable the peat to be sold at a price which will guarantee satisfactory financial returns.

In order to give a'complete understanding of the invention, it may be stated that in many cases the virginal peat extends over a layer of sand or clay located above the underground-water level. In the course of time, an almost impenetrable crust forms upon this layer due to the peat water percolating therethrough; and furthermore, after the formation of the bog or bank has 40 been` completed, a second crust will form' thereover which is practically impenetrable to water. My invention, therefore, proposes to break up the impenetrability of these layers by inserting into the peat above or below said layersor both above and below them-and at an angle to the vertical, a series of pipes or conduits which will inject a medium capable of dissolving the layers and, at the same time, of attacking or destroying the colloidal condition of the eat. p The accompanying drawing illustrates, by way of eXample, tvvo forms of apparatus which may' be used for carrying out the invention: Figure 1 thereof being a schewater level,

Serial No. 709,530.

layer or crust 2, and the transition bed dis-l poised between said laver 2 and the 'lower layer or'crust 3; Athe latter being located a slight distance above the undergroundindicated at 5. The main trenches dug in the bank, one ofV which is shown at 4, are filled with waterV up to the Vlevel 5, being fed from auxiliary trenches 6 which collect rain water and supply it thereto.

At one side of the main trenches, the peat is excavated vertically so as to form a working platform or ledge 7 in order to permit the insertion of the fluid supplyconduit 8 into the peat between the layers 2 and 3. This conduit consists of a number of pipe sections of suitable length-6 feet, for exampleremovably coupled together at their adjacent ends; the foremost section having a pointed end or nose 9 attached to it, and the rearmost section being connected to an elbow 10'on a collecting pipe 11 by means of a swivel joint which enables the ventire conduit to be rotated for a purpose presently described. The collecting pipe 11,

in turn, is secured to a supply pipe 12 which Y may be connected to any desired source of supply of the steam or other gas or of the acid or salt solution used toattack the crusts or layers 2 and 3 and to break up the colloidal condition of the peat. lVhen steam is employe-d for this` purpose, the supply pipe 12 is connected to a tank or reservoir 13, preferably portable, wherein collects the exhaust steam from the turbines, engines, pumps or the like utilized for operating the presses and other machinery installed in the plant.

The conduit-sections are provided with suitable openings or nozzles 14 for. spraying .the steam or other working fluid, which areinitially so disposed as to direct the jets of lfluid downward but Awhich may thereafter be brought into position to cause the jets to project upward, when it is desired to attack the upper layer or crust2, by rotating the conduit.

To effect this move! ment of the conduit, the previously-men-- 'flanged end 26 of the elbow l0, and between said elbow end and the end of the projection 2l there is interposed a ring or washer 25 which is split at 29; the opposite faces o1- the ring being made slightly concave so as to lit contormably against the convex ends of the parts 2Gy and 2st, such lit being maintained at the desired degree of tightness Vto avoid leakage by adjusting the nut 28. The sleeve 23 is equipped with radial handles 16, and by turning these handles, the conduit will be rotated bodily about its longitudinal axis, as will be understood, without, however, loosening the joint, since the union 27y can turn freely on the flanged end of the elbow.

Due to the arrangement above described,

it will be possible to arrange a plurality of conduits of, say, thirty feet in length, at certain distances apart in the bank with the aid of a few unskilled laborers, and then connect the conduits to the collector pipe by means of the elbow pipes l0, the said collector pipe being disposed p'erpendicularly to the conduits and closed at its 'opposite ends. The working Vfluids is delivered under pressure to the supply :pipe l2 and thence to the conduits; and since the conduits are arranged .at an angle to the vertical, none 4of the calories, practically speaking, will' be lost and the fluid willthus exert its full effect in penetrating the peat and attacking the coherence between the latter and the water, again assuming, of course that steam is being used, the supply being shut olif 'as soon as vapors Acommence to rise from the surface of the peat in order to avoid waste Vof heat. Where solutions o" salts or acids are employed., `the duration of the treatment can be `determined in any suitable way, for instance in accordance with va given maximum percentage oit' salt or acid to be consumed, and in either case the conduits may be rotated by means of the handles to direct the jets ot' fluid upward after a desired period ot time. The conduits may be withdrawn after a certain portion ot the bank has been worked, and then reinserted in another portion, duringwhich time a sufficient quantity of exhaust steam will have collected in the tank 13 to enable the next treatment to be carried out; such treatment being facilitated and assisted it the peat beds and the `layers or crusts are penetrated at xf'arious points in the working zone by forn'nng vertical bores therein.

In the construction represented in Fig. 2,

the horizontal conduit 8 is replaced by a large number. of pipes 1'? .which are inserted in the high peat bed at an angle to the vertical. These pipes l? are connected to a common supply main 20 tor the working fluid, and each of them encloses a valve rod i8 whose enlai ged lower end is designed to close the tapered outlet end 19 of the pipe when said rod is turned in the proper direction by means ,of handle in operating this term of apparatus, the working Huid.

(which is assumed to be steam) is caused to enter first pipe. l?, the controlling valve 2l in the supply main between that pipe and the succeeding one having first been closed. The fluid is then allowed to pass thro-ugh the said pipe and'to .attack the peat and the layer 2 for a certain period of time, Yafter which the pipe outlet 'i9 is closed by the valve rod 13, 'thus trapping in the pipe some of the steam and any water which may con-dense therein and which thereafter acts to heat the pipe. VThe valve 21 is then opened and the steam then passes into the seco-nd pipe 17, and so on; the heat imparted to each pipe by the steamv or hot water therein, or by both, being transmitted therefrom to the peat.

By carrying out the invention according as described above, it is possible to reduce the water-content of the peat in the bank to such an extent that the mass to be lifted out and transported may be further drained in an economical and remunerative manner by means of known mechanical `and vother devices. The diiculties heretofore encountered and due to the large quantity of water originally presentv in the peat are entirely avoided. 1

I claim as my invention l. A method of reducing the water-content of peat in peat banks, which consists in injecting internally of the bank at a point above at least one of the usual substantially impenetrable crusts a medium which will dissolve such crust and attack the colloidal condi-tion of the peat.

2. A method of reducing the water-content o peat in peat banks, which consists Iin inserti-ng into the bank a system of injecting pipes at a point `adjacent one of' the usual substantially-impenetrable crusts, and then supplying to said system for injection in-to `the peat internally of the bank a medium which will dissolve suchcrust and attack the colloidal condition or1V the peat.

34A method of reducing the water-content o peat in peat banks, which lconsists in injecting internally of the bank at a point between the usual upper and lower su'bstantially-impenetrable erusts a medium which will Vdissolve such crustsgand attack the colloidal condition of the peat.`

2i. Amethod 'of reducing the Water-content of peat in Apeat banks, which consists in injecting internally of the bank at a point above at least one of the usual substantially-impenetrable crusts a hot gaseous medium under pressure which will dissolve such crust and attack the colloidal condition of the peat.

5. A method of reducing the water-con#l tent of peat in peat banks, which consists in inserting into the bank at one side thereof and between the usual upper and lower substantially-impenetrable crusts a system of perforated injecting pipes; and then forcing through said pipe system for injection into the peat internally of the bank a medium under pressure which will dissolve such crusts and attack the colloidal condition of the peat.

6. A method according to claim 5, in which the solvent medium is first injected toward the lower crust, and thereafter the pipes are rotated to inject said medium ABRAHAM TEN BOSCH. 

